New York Resource Worker Sentenced to 2 Years for Stealing Taxpayer Money to Put a Hex on Her Boyfri

Well. . . we can't say that this is the most outrageous thing we've heard but it sure is the most outrageous LATELY!

Former city Human Resources Administration employee Eliana Bauta, 36, was sentenced to two years in prison Wednesday for stealing taxpayers funds. Bauta allegedly stole money to support her family and friends AND to put a hex on her ex-boyfriend racking up withdrawals to the sum of $300,000!

Bauta didn't blame her sticky fingers on her love of finer things and her disdain for her ex but, blamed it on her mental state.

“My mental illness has led me to a path of destruction,” Bauta said. “What I have done will haunt me for the rest of my life.”

Via NY Daily News:

"Her former gig as a “job opportunity specialist” at HRA paid $46,286 per year.

“Public benefits must be safeguarded for eligible individuals and not squandered by fraudsters who manipulate the system for their own gain," Department of Investigation Commissioner Margaret Garnett said.

Bauta must also serve three years of supervised release. Two people she enlisted in the scheme, Eric Gonzales and Geraldine Perez, have also been sentenced to two years of probation and nine months in prison, respectively.

“The defendants have now been convicted of stealing money that was intended to be used to help some of New York’s neediest residents. As this prosecution makes clear, we are committed to rooting out those who would abuse the public trust and to ensuring that funds from public programs go to their intended recipients, not the pockets of unscrupulous employees and their co-conspirators," Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman said."

Let this be a lesson to us all. . . NEVER let your need for money lead you to steal from your place of employment. You can be the best employee on the planet but, when you get caught, you're going to serve some time!